Convicted terrorist Khawaja will present appeal to Supreme Court

OTTAWA — The first man convicted under Canada’s anti-terrorism law will have a chance to appeal his conviction to Canada’s highest court.

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday that Mohammad Momin Khawaja will be granted leave to appeal his conviction and the dismissal of his constitutional challenge to the anti-terrorism law.

Khawaja argues that Canada’s anti-terrorism laws are unconstitutional and violate freedom of expression and religion.

Khawaja was given a life sentence in December 2010 for his involvement in a British bomb plot. He was convicted of building 30 remote detonators in his Ottawa basement for a terrorist cell in London, England.

The Supreme Court traditionally does not provide reasons for granting leave to appeal, but a criminal law expert said the message from the court may be that it wants a chance to weigh in on the definition of terrorism enshrined in the law.

Bruce Ryder, a professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, said the Ontario Court of Appeal’s conclusion that the definition of terrorism did not involve any restrictions on constitutional rights was not consistent with past Supreme Court judgments protecting non-violent means of religious expression.

“To the extent that the terrorism offences capture expressive activity short of actual violence, they should have to be justified by the government as ‘reasonable limits’ on charter rights,”Ryder said. “The Ontario Court of Appeal ruling did not put the government to that test.”

In December, when the Ontario Court of Appeal released six rulings that upheld federal anti-terrorism laws, including in Khawaja’s case, it argued Canadian courts needed to deal strictly and seriously with terrorism cases and that life sentences should become the norm for terrorism charges.

“Terrorism, in our view, is in a special category of crime and must be treated as such,” the Ontario court wrote in its decision.

“Terrorism must not be allowed to take root in Canada. When it is detected, it must be dealt with in the severest of terms.”
Khawaja’s application for leave to appeal was coupled with challenges from two men who are fighting extradition requests to the United States, where they are accused of terrorist activities.

U.S. prosecutors say that Pratheepan Nadarajah attempted to purchase US$1-million worth of missiles and AK-47s for the Tamil Tigers. U.S. prosecutors also allege that Suresh Sriskandarajah, also known as “Waterloo Suresh,” helped launder money for the Tamil Tigers and conspired to procure equipment for the group.

Nadarajah and Sriskandarajah were first ordered extradited to the United States in 2009. The Ontario Court of Appeal noted in its December ruling that the evidence against Sriskandarajah was extensive enough that he should stand trial in the U.S.